Questions

1. William Powers writes, “But to dismiss Thoreau for these reasons is to miss the whole point of Walden and its relevance to our time” (par. 5). What are “these reasons” to which he refers? Briefly summarize them. Do you agree with him?

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   Questions: - William Powers writes, “But to dismiss Thoreau for these reasons is to miss the whole point of Walden and its relevance to our time” (par. 5). What are “these reasons” to which he refers? Briefly summarize them. Do you agree with him?
2. Why does Powers call Thoreau’s stay at Walden Pond the “Walden experiment” (par. 5)?

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   Questions: - Why does Powers call Thoreau’s stay at Walden Pond the “Walden experiment” (par. 5)?
3. Powers asks, “But can we apply Walden to our time?…[I]s it a stretch to think Thoreau could have anything useful to say to us?” and then answers, “Not at all” (pars. 7–8). How adequately does Powers support his own answer to what seems to be a rhetorical question? Be specific.

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   Questions: - Powers asks, “But can we apply Walden to our time?…[I]s it a stretch to think Thoreau could have anything useful to say to us?” and then answers, “Not at all” (pars. 7–8). How adequately does Powers support his own answer to what seems to be a rhetorical question? Be specific.
4. Powers quotes from an 1852 New York Times editorial and from The Victorian Internet, a history of the telegraph, and writes of the editorial, “With a little updating…, this could be a description of the moment-by-moment randomness now offered by any digital screen” (par. 10). Rewrite both passages, updating the details. Then assess the validity of Powers’s claim.

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   Questions: - Powers quotes from an 1852 New York Times editorial and from The Victorian Internet, a history of the telegraph, and writes of the editorial, “With a little updating…, this could be a description of the moment-by-moment randomness now offered by any digital screen” (par. 10). Rewrite both passages, updating the details. Then assess the validity of Powers’s claim.
5. Powers writes, “Devices meant to relieve burdens were imposing new ones, pulling people away from life’s most meaningful experiences” (par. 11). Have you observed or experienced this phenomenon? Do you agree with what Powers writes about our modern, “plugged-in” world: that we suffer from “extreme busyness and a consequent loss of depth” and that “[t]he more wired people became, the more likely they were to fill up their minds with junk and trivia” (par. 13)? Explain.

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   Questions: - Powers writes, “Devices meant to relieve burdens were imposing new ones, pulling people away from life’s most meaningful experiences” (par. 11). Have you observed or experienced this phenomenon? Do you agree with what Powers writes about our modern, “plugged-in” world: that we suffer from “extreme busyness and a consequent loss of depth” and that “[t]he more wired people became, the more likely they were to fill up their minds with junk and trivia” (par. 13)? Explain.
6. What does Powers mean by “simplicity of the mind” (par. 20)?

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   Questions: - What does Powers mean by “simplicity of the mind” (par. 20)?
7. Do you agree with Powers that having a “Walden Zone” (par. 21) would be a good thing? Why or why not?

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   Questions: - Do you agree with Powers that having a “Walden Zone” (par. 21) would be a good thing? Why or why not?
8. As he concludes this selection, Powers writes, “It doesn’t have to be far off in the woods or up in the mountains or anywhere special. It’s not the place that matters, it’s the philosophy. To be happy in the crowd, everyone needs a little Walden” (par. 25). “In “Self-Reliance” (p. 590), Thoreau’s friend and neighbor Ralph Waldo Emerson writes, “It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.” Compare the ideas expressed in those statements. Do you agree with them? Explain.

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   Questions: - As he concludes this selection, Powers writes, “It doesn’t have to be far off in the woods or up in the mountains or anywhere special. It’s not the place that matters, it’s the philosophy. To be happy in the crowd, everyone needs a little Walden” (par. 25). “In “Self-Reliance” (p. 590), Thoreau’s friend and neighbor Ralph Waldo Emerson writes, “It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.” Compare the ideas expressed in those statements. Do you agree with them? Explain.